The Birth of a Winning Idea to Reduce Cold Systems

Zicam began as an entrepreneurial venture by two individuals who believed that zinc could form the basis of a very effective cold remedy if it could somehow be applied directly to the nose. This belief was based on literature published in the mid-1990s on the effectiveness of zinc lozenges as a cold remedy. The entrepreneurs believed that while zinc was effective in a lozenge, it would be much more effective in the nose because the common cold is caused by a viral infection in the nose.

The first problem the Zicam venture faced was finding an effective way to apply zinc directly to the nose and keep it there long enough to be effective as a cold remedy. Most of the scientific literature at the time indicated that this would be difficult because of all the secretions in the nose. The nose is a self-cleaning organ, and it was felt that in about fifteen minutes anything that had been put in there would be lost.

The two entrepreneurs developed a gel in which zinc could be suspended and stabilized, coupled with a nasal applicator. This formed the basis of a prototype product that was tested on friends in a series of informal research projects. It seemed that the idea actually worked. This was then expanded into a larger base of initial clinical research, which also showed that applying zinc directly to the nose with a gel was an effective cold remedy. The initial research showed more than a 75 percent reduction in the duration and severity of a cold.